Coil tilting mechanism



F, MAK@ ETAL 2,932,420

COIL TILTING MECHANISM April 12, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Dec. 4, 1957 WM5 M April 12,1960 F. MAKO T AL 2,932,420

COIL. TILTING MECHANISM Filed Dec. 4, 1957 III-'l Bywm April l2, 1.960 F. MAKo ET AL 2,932,420

con. TILTING MECHANISM l Filed Dec. 4, 1957 5 sheets-sheet 5 WORM/Ey C OIL TILTING MECI-LANISM Frank Mako, :South Euclid, and Richard D. Walter, Lakewood, Ohio'9 assignorsto United States Steel Corpora- A tion, a corporation of lNew Jersey v Appncane December 4, 1957, serial No. 700,678 z claims. (c1. 214-658) The present invention relates generally to material hmdling apparatus and more particularly to lifting apparatus adapted to be used with an overhead lift crane especially suitable for lifting, tilting, turning and balancing magnetic articles such as coils of steel strip or Sheet material During the processing of steel strip or sheet in coil form yit is frequently necessary to shift the coil from a vertical position, where its axis extends in a horizontal plane, to a position where the body of the coil is in a horizontal plane and its axis extends in a vertical plane. For example, coils of steel are usually transported to the annealing departments of present day steel finishing mills by means of a ram tractor which is provided with aram which is adapted to pass through the eye of a coil and support it in elevated position. The coil is thus carried tending in a horizontal plane. 'Ihe coils are depcfnsited in this 4uprightposition at the annealing furnaces. As is well known, coils are stacked on conventional box annealing furnace bases in horizontal position with the axes of the coils extending in a vertical plane. This necessitated up-ending the coils from their upright or vertical position Vas delivered to a horizontal position with their axes extending in a vertical plane before they could be loaded onto the furnace bases by means of a lift magnet. Heretofore such up-ending of each coil was usually accomplished by merely pushing the coil over on its side. l'[lhis method not only endangered workmen in the area but also often caused the edges of the coil to become damaged. In the case of large and relatively wide coils a sling suspended from the lift hook of an overhead crane was secured through Ythe eye of the coil which was then up-ended by means of concerted action of a iloorman and manipulation of the crane hook by the crane operator. When a large coil was thus up-ended it was necessary for the iloorman to immobilize the bottom of the coil so that it could be turned over by the crane. It was also necessary for the lloorrnan to guide the coil as it was being up-ended so that a portion of it would come to rest on a block. This was necessary to provide clearance so that the sling could be removed from the coil. l After the sling was removed from the up-ended coil the lift magnet was attached to the crane hook and the coil was loaded on a furnace base. This method also was unsatisfactory due to the hazardous condition created for the iloorman and the excessive time required.

After the annealing operation had been completed it was necessary to again up-end the coils to verticalposition after they had been unloaded from the furnace base so they could be carried away by the `ram tractor.

Another phase of coiled steel processing requiring considerable handling of individual coils is the nal inspection and bundling operation. At this stage each coil is inspected, end-trimmed and banded for shipment. During this operation it is necessary toitilt and/ or turn the coil so that it can be properly trimmed, banded and stacked on a shipping pallet. Prior to our invention,

.by gthe ram in upright position with the axis of the coil exl CC manipulation of each coil was accomplished by autoverhead chain hoist or lift and a specially shaped hook which fitted into the eye of the coil so that it could be suspended while being inspected and bundled. This method of handling the coils was not entirely satisfactory due to the fact that coil frequently fell from the hookduring the v'operation `causing injury to the inspector or bundler.

. It is, accordingly', an object of our invention to provide material handling apparatus adapted to be used in conllltlction with alift crane for lifting, tilting, turning and balancing magnetic articles such as coil strip steel and the like.

It is a further object of our invention to provide material handling apparatus for magnetic articles whereby a suspended magnetic article can be tilted from a horizontalposition to a vertical position, rotated within 360 degrees and rnoved in a horizontal'plane relative to its point of suspension so as to shift Vits center of gravity to attain properl balance of the article.

It is another object of the invention to provide apparatllS .as described in the foregoing object which can be remotely operated i '['hese and other objects will become more apparent after referring to the following specification and attached drawings, in which:

Eigure l` is a top plan View; Figure 2 is an elevational view partly in section taken '0,111 the liIleII--II of Figure l;

`Figure 3j is a vertical sectional view'partly in elevation taken on the line III- III of Figure 2; i

. Figure V4 is Va cross sectional view taken on the line Q, .1v- 1v .of nger@ s; and 'Qi lfigrlrej Ya partial elevational view similar to Fig- 'ure 3 showing the apparatus in alternate pOsi/tion.

' Referring vmore particularly to the drawings reference numeral 2 designates the lift hook of an overhead crane (not shown) on which the material handling apparatus of the invention, designated generally by reference numeral 4, may be suspended. Apparatus 4 includes a frame 6 having a bail 8 projecting upwardly therefrom for engagement with the hook 2.

Frame 6 supports a trolley 10 for transverse horizontal movement in guideways 12. Trolley 10 is moved by means of a pair of screw shafts 14 which are threaded in internally threaded openings 16 in one end of the trolley. Screw shafts 14 are driven by a motor 18 through worm and gear means 20. The motor 18 and worm and gear means 20 are mounted on one end of the frame 6.

A carriage 22 is mounted for 360 degree rotation in the trolley 10 on roller bearings 24. The upper portion of the carriage is in the form of a circular gear 26 which meshes with and is driven by the driving gear 28 of a motor-gear reducer unit 30. gear 28 meshes with the inner periphery of gear 26. Unit 30 is rigidly mounted on the upper portion of the trolley 10. j

The bottom portion of carriage 22 depends from the with a depending yoke or cradle 32. The downwardly projecting sides or legs 34 of the yoke have inwardly directed portions at their lower ends which function as trunnions 36 on which upstanding bearings 38 of an electromagnet 40 are pivotally supported.

A segmental gear 42 is rigidly connected with and projects upwardly from each of the upstanding bearings 38 and meshes with a pair of driving gears 44 of a motorgear reducer unit 46. Motor-gear reducer unit 46 is supported on a ledge 48 carried by yoke 32 between arms 34.

The electromagnet 40 is provided with a centering nose 50 of non-magnetic material projecting from its lifting face.

As best shown in Figure 4,

perly located on the coil.

Motor 18 and motor-gear reducer units 30 and 46 are remotely controlled by switches (not shown) which are preferably located in the crane operators cab.

In operation, to up-end a coil C from a horizontal position with its axis in a vertica1positionas shown in l Figure 3, to a vertical position with its axis in a horizontal position, as shown in Figure 5, the apparatus is posii tioned over the coil with the lifting face of the Velectrol magnet S in contact with the upper edge of the coil. In applyingV the magnet to the coil the nosepiece enters the eye of the coil and centers the magnet so that it is pro- After the magnet has thus been brought into engagement with the soil, the magnet is energized and the crane hook 2 is raised to elevate the apparatus 4 and lift the coil from the Hoor.A While coil is being lifted, motor-gear reducer 46 is actuated'to rotate gears 44. Rotation of gears 44 which are in mesh with segmental gears 42 causes the magnet to pivot 90 degrees on trunnions 36 and tilt the coil from horizontal to vertical position. When the coil is in vertical position the magnet nose 50 prevents the coil from slipping off the lift face of the magnet. It is to be noted that the nose 50 may be omitted if it is desired to handle magnetic articles not having axial openings.

When the coil is tilted to vertical position the center of gravity of the load on the hook is shifted so that it is necessary to balance the load. This is done by actuating motor 18 to shift the position of trolley 10 along frame 6 until the center of gravity is in line with the hook. If it is desired to rotate the coil so as to properly position it for subsequent handling,.motorgear reducer 30 is actuated to cause rotation of the carriage 22. Figure 5 shows the coil C rotated approximately 180 degrees after being up-ended.

While one embodiment of our invention has been shown and described, it will be apparent that vother adaptations and modications may be made without departing from the scope of the following claims.

- and connected with said carriage for rotating the carriage,

a yoke member including a base and a pair of spaced legs projecting substantially normal to said base, said yoke member being rigidly connected by itsbase to said carriage with said legs depending therefrom, a lift magnet rotatably mounted on the free ends of said legs for movement from a rst position wherein the lift face of the magnet is substantially parallel with the -base of said yoke to a second position wherein the lift face of the magnet is substantially normal to said base, a segmental gear projecting from said magnet, and power means mounted on said yoke and connected with said segmental gear for moving said magnet between said rst and second positions.

2. Material handling apparatus as defined by claim 1 including a center nose portion on the lift face of said magnet projecting substantially normal to said face.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 896,406 Maxfield Aug. 18, 1908 1,429,012 Andrews Sept. 12, 1922 1,855,862 McCann et al. Apr. 26', 1932 2,630,931 Douglas Mar. 10, 1953 

